Chapter 329: Chapter 329 : Choice

The moment the golems finished rising from the torn earth, Alden and Saria snapped into full alertness.

The ground around them was now crowded with hulking stone bodies. Obsidian‑like limbs ground against the soil as the golems straightened, their single red eyes flickering to life one after another.

The air filled with the sound of grinding rock and pulsing mana, like a hundred boulders learning how to breathe.

Alden didn’t wait.

Dark flames surged around him as he dashed forward, his body becoming a blur. Every swing of his blade cleaved through stone chests and crystal cores, black fire rushing into the cracks and detonating from within.

Golems shattered into chunks and dust, but as soon as they fell, the broken pieces twitched, crawled back together, and reformed.

Saria gave a sharp order, and elven arrows rained down, piercing joints and heads—yet even when their limbs were blown off, the golems reconstructed themselves, shards of stone snapping back into place as if time were rewinding.

“Tch, this is annoying!” Alden growled, cutting another one in half, only to watch it rebuild itself.

Then a calm voice echoed inside Alex’s head.

[ Host, they all have a single core inside their head. Destroy that, and they will stop regenerating. ]

’Head core, got it,’ Alex thought.

He raised his voice over the chaos.

“Alden! Saria! Aim for the head—there’s a core inside! Break that and they’ll stay dead!”

Alden didn’t question it for a second. His next slash curved upward, dark flames focusing along the edge of his sword. He leapt, bringing the blade down like a guillotine.

The strike split a golem’s head cleanly; a glowing core inside shattered with a sharp crack. That one didn’t get back up.

Saria caught on immediately.

“Archers! Change target—eyes and head!” she shouted.

Arrows shifted, now aimed higher. The next volley punched straight through stone skulls, exploding the cores hidden within. One by one, golems froze, their bodies crumbling like puppets with their strings cut.

Within moments, the tide turned.

But the enemy wasn’t done.

From the colossal tree above, dark shapes began descending—cultists leaping down from concealed platforms and branches, cloaks whipping in the wind.

Some landed among the elves, blades flashing; others hurled corrupted spells that twisted the air.

Alden blurred into motion again.

He moved like a streak of black fire, appearing in front of enemy after enemy. Each swing burned through robes and flesh alike, leaving nothing but scorched marks on the ground.

Cultists barely had time to scream before they were reduced to ash.

Yet more kept coming, pouring down the tree like a swarm.

Amidst the chaos, Alex didn’t move.

He stood near the rear line, eyes fixed on the towering tree’s uppermost branches, as if listening to something no one else could hear.

“Hey!” Alden shouted between strikes. “Help us here! What’s the point of you being strong if you’re not gonna fight at all, you bastard?!”

Alex’s mouth twitched.

“I’m reading some really powerful energy signatures from the top,” he replied. “There are some seriously strong guys up there.”

Alden cut down another cultist. “So what are you gonna do about it?!”

Alex looked at him flatly.

“Isn’t it obvious? You act like a side character and take care of these guys. I’ll act like the hero and go save the queen.”

Saria, slashing a cultist’s throat with her twin blades, snapped, “And the princess!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex said. “No need to yell. I didn’t forget her, okay.”

Before either of them could answer, a familiar notification rang in his mind.

[ Shadow Step – Activated. ]

Black shadows coiled around Alex’s feet.

In the next heartbeat, his figure blurred—and vanished.

He reappeared on one of the highest branches of the massive tree, the air thin and cold around him. Without pausing, he continued using Shadow Step, flashing from branch to branch, climbing higher and higher in a series of silent, weightless leaps.

Leaves and twisted branches whipped past him until he broke through the upper canopy.

At the top, the base finally came into view.

Built into and around the crown of the tree was a massive fortress—jagged black metal fused with living wood, platforms suspended between colossal branches, towers rising like thorns. Glowing runes pulsed along the walls, forming a network of barriers and sigils. It was large enough to house an army, yet eerily quiet.

No guards. No patrols rushing him. No spells launching from the walls.

Too quiet.

Alex narrowed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

“Yeah,” he muttered, “that’s not a good sign at all. I’ve seen too many movies like this.”

He took a step forward.

A voice slid out from the shadows ahead.

“So you’re the human that has the cult so afraid, huh.”

Three figures stepped out of the darkness.

They looked humanoid at first glance, but the details betrayed their nature. Each of them had horns curling from their heads—different shapes and sizes—and long, dragon‑like tails swaying lazily behind them. Sleek scales traced parts of their skin, catching the light with a metallic sheen.

One man had brown hair, tousled and falling slightly over his golden eyes. Another had black hair, slicked back, his golden gaze cold and razor‑sharp. The third was a woman with long green hair that flowed down her back like a waterfall of emerald, her own golden eyes half‑lidded and predatory.

All three radiated power thick enough to make the air hum.

Alex looked at them and exhaled through his nose.

“I knew it,” he said. “You guys were the energy signatures I sensed.”

One of the men—black‑haired, with the sharpest eyes—clicked his tongue.

“Let’s finish him,” he said. “Don’t waste time talking.”

His body began to change.

Bones cracked and lengthened, muscles expanding as black and crimson scales spread across his skin. His horns grew longer, curving back like blades. Wings tore out from his back with a wet rip, unfurling wide enough to blot out part of the sky. In a matter of seconds, he completed his transformation into a massive dragon, eyes burning like molten gold.

He threw his head back and let out an earth‑shaking roar, then snapped his jaws forward and spat a spray of corrosive saliva and spit in Alex’s direction.

Alex twisted aside, narrowly avoiding the disgusting torrent as it sizzled against the ground, leaving smoking craters where it landed.

“Now that was disgusting, you will the first one to die i will make sure if that” Alex said flatly. ” And Thanks for the nightmares.”

His expression hardened, all traces of humor fading from his eyes.

“Alright then,” he said quietly, mana beginning to swirl around him. “Let’s get started.”

—

Deep inside the enemy base, far from the rooftop confrontation…

A dimly lit cell of stone and metal sat at the end of a narrow corridor. The air was cold and stale, carrying the faint scent of old blood and damp stone.

The steady sound of boots clicking against the floor echoed through the hallway.

Step… step… step…

Inside the cell, a woman sat with her hands bound in heavy, rune‑inscribed cuffs. The faint light that seeped through the bars caught her features.

Violet eyes, sharp and luminous, glowed like distant stars in the dark. Platinum-blond hair, though disheveled, still fell around her shoulders like a silver waterfall. Even in her worn state, there was an undeniable grace to her posture and a quiet dignity in her gaze.

Aeliana Moonshade Lareth’Thalas.

The queen of the Elven Empire.

Her eyes lifted as the footsteps stopped before her cell, landing on the grey‑haired man standing beyond the bars.

Marcus.

“Looks like your plan is about to fail, Marcus,” Aeliana said, voice calm despite the chains. “The person you tried to avoid the most is here.”

Marcus narrowed his eyes.

“And how would you know that?” he asked.

Aeliana smiled faintly and lowered her gaze to the cuffs on her wrists.

“You can seal my powers with these,” she said, lifting her hands slightly so the metal glinted in the dim light, “but that look on your face says it all.”

She tilted her head.

“And besides,” she added, “I have very good hearing. I can hear the sound of battle outside—and the alarms that started blaring the moment they arrived here.”

Marcus cut her off with a sharp tone.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re here to save you and your daughter.”

At the mention of Elaria, Aeliana’s composure cracked.

Her eyes sharpened, voice turning cold.

“What did you do with her?” she demanded. “If you so much as touch a single hair on her head, I will make your life a living hell.”

“Big words from someone trapped in a cell,” Marcus said lightly. “But I’ll answer your question.”

He paused deliberately, letting the silence stretch.

“I haven’t done anything to her,” he said at last. “Not yet, at least.”

Aeliana’s fingers curled into tight fists, the chains around her wrists clinking softly.

Marcus smiled, enjoying the reaction.

“Did you know,” he continued, “I had two reasons to kidnap you and your daughter?”

Aeliana forced her voice to remain steady.

“You both come from the purest high‑elf bloodlines,” she said. “I assume that’s one.”

“So you do understand,” Marcus replied, amused. “Yes. After seeing those dragons and the power they wield on that new continent—Dragonia…”

“Dragonia?” Aeliana repeated.

“That’s what the dragon king calls it,” Marcus said with a shrug. “Strange and obvious, I know, but it’s his choice.”

He stepped a little closer to the bars.

“Anyway,” he went on, “that guy has some fascinating creatures at his disposal.”

He chuckled under his breath.

“Creatures that even mesmerized me.”

Marcus’s eyes grew distant for a moment, recalling them.

“Power and strength beyond what our world usually sees,” he said. “Dragons here are rarely seen—as if they hardly exist at all. But his… his are very real.”

Aeliana stayed silent, listening.

“So I made a deal with him,” Marcus said. “He gave me some of his dragons—specimens I could use for research.”

His expression shifted into something colder, more clinical.

“And you know what I found?”

He didn’t wait for her response.

“You elves,” he said, “are the ones blessed by mana the most after dragons.”

He smiled thinly.

“So through their fluids, I created a serum. One that can turn even a normal elf into a full‑fledged dragon.”

From his coat, Marcus pulled out a small vial filled with glowing red liquid. The viscous substance swirled slowly, pulsing as if alive.

His gaze fixed on Aeliana.

“And what better way to test it,” he said, “than on the highest breed of elves itself?”

Horror flashed across Aeliana’s face as the implication hit her.

Marcus’s smile widened.

“Now,” he said softly, holding the vial up between them, “decide.”

His eyes gleamed with cruel amusement.

“Will it be you… or your daughter?”

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